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Asteroid Near-Earth

2018 RC

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(2018 RC)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.07 AU
True anomaly
168.04°
Distance from Earth
1.513 AU
As of
20 October 2026

Two-body Kepler propagation — accurate to ~0.1% for major planets over decades, less so for highly-perturbed bodies. Use JPL Horizons for high precision.

Sun Earth — 0.996 AU from the Sun Earth 2018 RC — 1.07 AU from the Sun 2018 RC
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2018 RC is 1.513 AU from Earth today (12.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 43m 41s
Declination
-23° 14′ 18″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
1.51 AU
Elongation from the Sun
44.84° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

From your location

See how high it is right now, whether it is up after civil twilight, and when it rises and sets where you are.

How do I find my coordinates?

Google Maps on a computer

  1. Right-click the spot where you'll be observing.
  2. The first line of the menu is the coordinates, e.g. 51.50722, -0.12758 — click it and they're copied.
  3. Paste them above.

Google Maps on a phone

  1. Press and hold the spot to drop a pin.
  2. The coordinates appear in the search bar (or on the pin's card) — tap to copy, then paste above.

A full Google Maps link works too, but the short maps.app.goo.gl share links don't carry coordinates — copy the numbers instead. We round to about a kilometre; that's all the sky calculation needs.

Know your what3words address? Paste it, e.g. ///filled.count.soap. This is optional — the three words are sent to what3words to convert them, and we don't store the address or the result.

Your location stays in your browser and is sent only for this calculation. Using a what3words address is optional; if you do, the three words go to what3words to be converted and we don't record them. Set a location first, then you can save an email alert for this object. See our privacy policy.

Two-body approximation, good to about a degree for the planets — enough to find the constellation and know whether it is up.

Orbital elements

Semi-major axis
0.883 AU
Eccentricity
0.2196
Inclination
1.72°
Orbital period
302.9 days
Perihelion
0.689 AU
Aphelion
1.076 AU
Longitude of ascending node
344.74°
Argument of periapsis
140.46°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 0.2 LD
0.0006 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.698

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 2).

Observations used
232
Data arc
8 days
First observed
3 September 2018
Last observed
11 September 2018
Residual RMS
0.41 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Physical properties

Rotation period
0.17 hours

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
24.93

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 114 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2018 RC at 2027-06-29 16:48 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-06-29 16:48 UTC close approach of 2018 RC. Catalogue miss distance 183.2 LD · 7.04 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-06-26 to 2027-07-02, with a mark at UTC midnights and an arrow for the direction of motion. The circle is the Moon’s mean orbit; the Moon is plotted at closest approach. A ray shows the Sun’s direction. The labelled distance is the full separation. The drawn radius is the part that lies in the ecliptic plane. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 183.2 LD · 7.04 × 10⁷ km 2027-06-29 16:48 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-06-29 16:48 UTC close approach of 2018 RC. Catalogue miss distance 183.2 LD · 7.04 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-06-26 to 2027-07-02, with a mark at UTC midnights and an arrow for the direction of motion. The circle is the Moon’s mean orbit; the Moon is plotted at closest approach. A ray shows the Sun’s direction. The labelled distance is the full separation. The drawn radius is the part that lies in the ecliptic plane. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.

JPL Horizons

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2027-06-29 16:48:00 Earth 0.4707 AU 183.2 LD 19.4 km/s
2028-02-11 06:57:00 Earth 0.2929 AU 114.0 LD 9.2 km/s
2028-09-04 16:19:00 Earth 0.2996 AU 116.6 LD 14.2 km/s
2032-06-22 22:14:00 Earth 0.3255 AU 126.7 LD 14.9 km/s
2033-01-18 18:52:00 Earth 0.2948 AU 114.7 LD 9.4 km/s
2033-08-29 16:53:00 Earth 0.4474 AU 174.1 LD 18.7 km/s
2037-06-17 15:26:00 Earth 0.1756 AU 68.3 LD 10.3 km/s
2037-12-22 14:55:00 Venus 0.0223 AU 8.7 LD 6.4 km/s
2037-12-25 20:37:00 Earth 0.2779 AU 108.2 LD 8.4 km/s
2040-07-26 08:28:00 Venus 0.0425 AU 16.6 LD 5.6 km/s

Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.

Sources